As I have shared in some previous blogs, I enjoy sports, primarily football, soccer and basketball. Lately, I enjoy visiting Major League Baseball stadiums. I enjoy the competition, the team spirit, the traditions and the different types of food offered at each stadium.
I am not a New York Mets fan, but in early June I was able to attend a Major League Baseball game with my entire family. It was definitely a different experience, even before we got to the game, as we arrived via subway. As the subway train rolled closer and closer to the stadium, at each stop, more and more Mets fans boarded the train and you could feel the excitement grow.
We ended up really enjoying the game and I even got to have one of the stadium's jalapeno sausages. As we boarded the subway after the game, we started to map our way back to our hotel. When we stepped off the first subway to catch another train, we realized we had gotten off too early. We noticed another couple who had made the same mistake. While we waited for the next train, I started up a conversation with the husband.
After a bit of small talk, I asked him where he was from. He told me they had just left Puerto Rico after losing everything in the recent hurricane. He was in New York with his wife and his two children would be joining them later. They were looking for jobs. They were looking for a new beginning.
As I boarded the subway, I started to reflect on this conversation and thought about our patients. They are not only dealing with whatever brought them into our hospital or clinic, but whatever else life throws their way. Their outside lives consist of stress, work, commitments and many other factors. I realized: "You never know what someone may be facing."
My favorite comment that man made to me was "Everything we lost can be replaced, what is most important is that we still have each other." It's the same here at work: the most important thing is that we have each other. We are stronger together.
Talk soon, Jason